APNA Field Dispatch | July 2026 From the Ground Up
July was a month of moving from one community to another, one conversation to the next and one question to another: How do we make rights and social security easier to access for the people who need them? Across Ranchi, Dhanbad and Hazaribagh, APNA’s team spent the month meeting communities where they were, helping people sail across welfare systems, strengthening local leadership and building the networks needed to keep this work going beyond a single camp or programme.
Starting with the neighbourhood
The month began on the streets of Ranchi. On 5 July, the team met 22 people at K.M. Mallik Road in Lalpur (Ward 11). The following day, we moved to Kanta Toli, also in Ward 11, where we engaged with another 35 individuals. These were more than our routine outreach visits. Discussions with residents brought everyday concerns to the surface, particularly around accessing welfare schemes and social security. For the team, these interactions were also an opportunity to understand what information the communities had, what they were missing and where support was needed.
Building the team behind the work
Not all community work happens in the field. Some of it happens in training rooms, planning meetings and talks exchanged about how to keep the work going. This work also depends on fostering the organisations doing it. From 9–11 July, APNA team members Faizan and Nidhi took part in a fundraising training organised by the Dhwani Foundation under the Dhwani Niranthara Saksham Programme. The three-day training focused on organisational capacity and sustainable approaches to fundraising. This type of work happens behind the scenes but plays an important role in keeping community programmes running.
Taking rights to the field
On 12 July, we shifted our focus toward the people’s rights, our core working area. At a Labour Card camp in Lowadih (Ward 12), Ranchi, the team assisted people from the labour community with the documentation and registration processes required to access labour-related benefits and welfare schemes.
A week later, the work travelled to Dhanbad. On 20 July, APNA, with support from Safai Karmachari Andolan, organised a Green PLV programme in Dhansar, bringing together approximately 22–30 participants. The programme focused on developing community-based legal and environmental leadership, strengthening the idea that communities can play an active role in understanding and addressing the issues that affect them.
Strengthening the people who carry the work forward
Back in Ranchi, APNA’s work with Para Legal Volunteers (PLVs) continued. On 22 July, the team met with PLVs to discuss upcoming camps in Jagannathpur. The team also engaged with the local Ward Parshad to coordinate community outreach. These discussions become an important part of fieldwork bringing together local volunteers, community representatives and organisations so that support can reach people more effectively.
Ending the month in Hazaribagh
July’s final programme took place on 31 July at APNA’s registered office in Hazaribagh. The session brought together 37 participants for discussions on rights and social security. Participants were introduced to the role of Para Legal Volunteers and informed about relevant training opportunities. Several members of APNA’s governing body also attended the programme. From a neighbourhood in Ranchi to a community programme in Dhanbad and finally a gathering in Hazaribagh, July’s fieldwork followed a common thread: information becomes meaningful when it reaches people, and rights become more accessible when communities have the knowledge and networks to claim them.
Learnings
For us, July was ultimately about connecting the dots between people and information, workers and their rights, volunteers and communities and local action and longer-term support.
Team APNA | Jharkhand | July 2026